Intentions to Marry, 1925 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840531, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1925 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1925d contains pages 1357-1784, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1389

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar R. B. [illegible]

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

4 May 1925

John Henry Lean
Annie McLean

John Henry Lean
Annie McLean
💍 1925/4724

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Lady Help

32
33

Meeanee
Maraekakaho

3 miles
33 years

Residence of Mr. A. McLean, Maraekakaho

4430

4 May 1925

Rev. J. C. Young, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	4 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Lean	Annie McLean
	💍 1925/4724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Lady Help
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Meeanee	Maraekakaho
Length of Residence	3 miles	33 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. McLean, Maraekakaho
Folio	4430
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Young, Presbyterian

6 May 1925

William Christopher Griffith
Doris Emily Williams

William Christopher Griffith
Doris Emily Williams
💍 1925/4725

Widower
Spinster

Trainer
Domestic duties

50
22

Hastings
Hastings

18 years
10 years

Baptist Church, Hastings

4431

6 May 1925

Rev. T. E. Ewen, Baptist

No	58
Date of Notice	6 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Christopher Griffith	Doris Emily Williams
	💍 1925/4725
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Trainer	Domestic duties
Age	50	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	18 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Hastings
Folio	4431
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. E. Ewen, Baptist

12 May 1925

Russell Treaton Price
Doris Winifred Gardner

Russell Treaton Price
Doris Winifred Gardner
💍 1925/4726

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
21

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
9 years

Residence of Mr. Charles Gardner, Southland Road, Hastings

4432

12 May 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	59
Date of Notice	12 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Russell Treaton Price	Doris Winifred Gardner
	💍 1925/4726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Charles Gardner, Southland Road, Hastings
Folio	4432
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

15 May 1925

Frederick Pileher
Annie Hitchings

Frederick Pilcher
Annie Hitchings
💍 1925/4727

Bachelor
Widow

Engine driver
Domestic duties

65
64

Hastings
Hastings

65 years
40 years

Presbyterian Manse, Hastings

4433

15 May 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	60
Date of Notice	15 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Pileher	Annie Hitchings
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Pilcher	Annie Hitchings
	💍 1925/4727
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	65	64
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	65 years	40 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Hastings
Folio	4433
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

16 May 1925

Jack Taylor
Elsie Annie Craig

Jack Taylor
Elsie Annie Craig
💍 1925/4728

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
25

Havelock North
Pukahu

24 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Hastings

4434

16 May 1925

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	61
Date of Notice	16 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Taylor	Elsie Annie Craig
	💍 1925/4728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Pukahu
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	4434
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).